Wireless technology is being used in an increasing number of situations, not only for long range telecommunication applications, but also for short range communication in which for example Bluetooth transceivers are used to communicate with user devices, such as mobile phones, smart devices, such as smart phones etc. Short range wireless technology is for example widely used for enabling hands free communication in a car, enabling wireless use of electronic devices, including computers, tablets, mobiles phones, etc. in a home or work setting, connecting printers to computers etc. Short range wireless technology is also used for file swapping, music sharing, collaborative gaming, etc.
However, short range communication is also increasingly used in public spaces, not only for creating hot spots, but also for communication with users in the immediate surroundings of a wireless transceiver, for example for sending notes and messages to costumers in a grocery store, for sending offers tailored to users in the local area, including lunch offers, special deals etc. Furthermore, Bluetooth may be used between devices to find other people near you, or it may be used to locate lost items having a tracking device attached thereto, such as beacon stickers, for example using the Bluetooth tiles or StickNFind beacon tags.
For establishing a secure connection between two devices, different approaches have been suggested, and typically user interaction is needed to obtain a secure short range wireless connection between two devices. Another example includes MagPairing, in which two mobile phones are brought into contact with each other, so that both magnetometers of the mobile phones may read the magnetic field emitted from the other, which yields highly correlated sensor data of magnetic field patterns. The sensor data may then be used to authenticate or establish security keys to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
For some personal communication applications, it may be desired to provide specific proximity zones, to interact with short range wireless devices only within a specified proximity zone. It is however a challenge for the known wireless short range communication protocols to provide robust proximity zones.
Thus, for such applications typically other approaches are used such as NFC technologies or other near-field technologies.